Advani spares Seshan, not Sonia

GANDHINAGAR, Aug 24: Even as a barefoot T N Seshan goes around the villages of Gandhinagar killing Advani with kindness and fiery rhetori...

GANDHINAGAR, Aug 24: Even as a barefoot T N Seshan goes around the villages of Gandhinagar killing Advani with kindness and fiery rhetoric, Advani himself refuses to return the favour. His election speeches today, as he launched his campaign from the fringes of Ahmedabad, were marked by a studied absence of any reference to the Congress candidate, who appears to be building up his own fan following.

Emerging in stark white dhoti-kurta from a wine red Cielo sporting the Gujarati pagdi, Advani addressed the crowds in Ranip Bazaar and the shanties of Ramapir No Tekro, inhabited mostly by rag-pickers and daily-wage labourers. But the focus was more on the contest between Sonia and Sushma in Bellary than his own.

He talked bemusedly about the stealth with which the Congress decided on Bellary and kept it a secret and with much pleasure he told the people how Sushma Swaraj landed there within 10 minutes of Sonia having filed her papers. 8220;Congress ne socha duniya chakit rah jayegi, asliyat mein Congress chakit rah gayi,8221; he said, eliciting chuckles from the gathering.

The crowd of around 400 had been waiting almost two hours in the sweltering afternoon sun before Advani8217;s convoy showed up, accompanied by a battery of cellphone-wielding journalists and television crews. Songs like Sun Lo Pakistani, Yaad Kara Di Hamne Tumko Nani8217; sung to the tunes of Hum Hindustani8217; and Kamal Khila Kar Kisne Uradi, Hai Dushman Ki Nindiya; This Can Do Only Kesaria8217; sung to This happen only in India8217; helped keep the interest alive.

Till then the crowds had deliberated on the contest that had suddenly acquired glamour by the entry of the former CEC. 8220;Seshan is an honest man, but the Congress is a corrupt party,8221; said resident Mangleshbhai Patel. 8220;I have sent five letters to Advani on the problems of rail commuters but he has not replied to even one,8221; complained Manubhai Patel, president of the North Gujarat Passenger Welfare Union. 8220;He is a busy man, but committed. Doesn8217;t he come here every election,8221; justified his neighbour.

Minor grievances apart, Advani connected with the people. And though Seshan has only just started making his presence felt, it is obvious that so far he has not touched the loyal following of 8220;hamare Advaniji8221;.

8220;Seshan is a good man but he should not have joined the Congress,8221; said school teacher Arvind Patel. 8220;Seshan will get votes for the Congress, but Advani is a great man,8221; added retired government servant Keshavlal Rawal.

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When Advani told the people how in Italy an Indian woman married to an Italian film producer was not allowed to contest elections for 8220;nagar palika8221; because she happened to be an Indian by birth, their faces registered hurt. When Advani told them the BJP was not trying to take any advantage of Kargil which was entirely the Army8217;s victory, they nodded their approval. When he implored that, after all, 8220;Atalji was conducting the operation8221;, they conceded generously. And when he told them to give the Congress a rest for five years, 8220;unhone 45 saal bahut mehnat ki hai, ab unko araam karne dijiye8221;, they clapped conspiratorially.

Even in nondescript Ramapir No Tekro, where barely two chairs could fit in the tiny stage that was erected, the daily-wage labourers, larri pullers, masons and ragpickers left work to hear what Advani had to say.

8220;We have always voted for him,8221; said casual labourer Govindbhai Mohanbhai, gathering his tattered dhoti8217;. 8220;Atal Behari Advani aye hain,8221; said 10-year-old Nilesh Manubhai Thakur, waving a BJP flag, even as a neighbouring BJP worker almost fell off his perch in shock.